title: Hepatocellular carcinoma in patients co-infected with hepatitis C virus and human immunodeficiency virus.
abstract: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) share a common route of transmission so that about one third of HIV infected individuals show HCV co-infection. Highly active antiretroviral therapy has offered a longer and better life to infected patients. While has removed AIDS-related diseases from the list of most common causes of death their place has been taken by complications of HCV infection, such as cirrhosis, end stage liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HIV/HCV co-infection requires complex management, especially when HCC is present. Co-infected patients with HCC undergo the same therapeutic protocol as their mono-infected counterparts, but special issues such as interaction between regimens, withdrawal of therapy and choice of immunosuppressive agents, demand a careful approach by specialists. All these issues are analyzed in this minireview.
authors.affiliation: Dimitrios Dimitroulis, Eleftherios Spartalis, Emmanuel Pikoulis, Gregory Kouraklis, Second Department of Propedeutic Surgery, Athens University Medical School, "Laiko" Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dimitroulis
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Valsami
authors.forename: Eleftherios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Spartalis
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pikoulis
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kouraklis
keywords: Co-infection; Hepatitis C virus, Human immunodeficiency virus; Hepatocellular carcinoma